From the color and fantasy of Seuss Landing, the intrepid adventurer plunges into the mystery of The Lost Continent, which in terms of sheer size (some 20 acres) is almost a theme park in itself. There are three distinct areas to be found here — the Lost City, an ancient Middle Eastern bazaar evoking 1,001 Nights, and Merlinwood, which may remind some of Germany’s Black Forest and others of Merrie Olde England.

Photo Op: The first thing you see, when you enter from Seuss Landing, is a statue of an armor-clad griffin. Another guards the entrance from Jurassic Park. These grim guardians have quickly become one of the favorite spots for tourists to pose for that “I was at Islands of Adventure” shot.

As you approach the Lost City, you glimpse over a craggy boulder an enormous hand holding an equally enormous trident. Only when you have walked a little farther do you realize that the boulder is an enormous head of the god Poseidon and what you are seeing are the remnants of a very large and very ancient statue that fell down eons ago. Just opposite is a brooding extinct volcano, with the faces of titans carved in its flanks. It hides Mythos, perhaps the most eye-popping restaurant in any Orlando theme park.

A bit further along you enter a Middle Eastern market filled with the clamorous activity of its many shops. Turn another corner and you are in Merlinwood, in a spacious plaza in front of the entrance to Dueling Dragons, Islands of Adventure’s most spectacular coaster. Two huge statues of the battling dragons, Fire and Ice, frame the entrance. Facing these mortal combatants, across the plaza, is the enormous gnarled stump of an ancient tree of gigantic proportions. It sits atop the Enchanted Oak Tavern and it surely must be bewitched because it seems to be the weathered face of Merlin himself.

The grand scale and attention to detail in the architecture of The Lost Continent is unparalleled in any theme park I’ve ever seen. It’s rare that theme park visitors pause just to take pictures of buildings but it happens here all the time. Add to the visual splendor a trend-setting dual roller coaster and what well may be the finest restaurant in any theme park in the world and The Lost Continent becomes a very special island indeed.

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